Doctors Say That Coronavirus Deaths Are More Due To 'Cytokine Storm' Than A Virus Overload

The novel pandemic COVID-19 has taken over our lives ever since it attacked the whole world, and with thousands of deaths taking place every day, countries are struggling to contain the spread of the deadly virus. However, this has been one of the most confusing diseases ever, because it is believed that 50% of its patients are asymptomatic, which has been a major cause of the rise in cases.

There are three different stages for the virus to spread.

The Viral phase is when the virus replicates very quickly within the respiratory system. During this phase, the symptoms are flu-like and disappear on their own after 6-10 days. 80% of the cases are patients who go through this phase. The Pulmonary phase is when the patients might develop pneumonia. It is a very specific type of pneumonia which attacks the lungs and also causes respiratory distress. The Severe phase is when around 10% of the patients develop a ¡°cytokine storm¡± which is an uncontrolled inflammatory response of the immune system and is the main reason behind the number of fatalities caused by the virus.

AFP

What is 'Cytokine Storm'?

According to a report by Euronews, doctors have claimed that all the critical cases do not have a high concentration of the virus but are dying due to cytokine storm syndrome. Dr Rafael M¨¢?ez is quoted in the report as saying, ¡°The cytokine storm is a problem we face quite often in intensive care. Other infections and even some drugs can trigger it. The problem is that we don¡¯t have a treatment, neither against the virus nor for the inflammatory response. We only have supportive treatments, to protect the patient's vital organs."

In order to reduce inflammation, doctors use respirators or other drugs to control the patient's blood pressure or even corticoids to reduce inflammation.

Interlukin-6 is a pro-inflammatory cytokine produced by one's immune system and it can be blocked by using other drugs.

Medic Lab

Dr M¨¢?ez said that cytokine storms are common during the flu season, but the patients don't end up in such critical conditions. He also said, "You don¡¯t need a strong immune system but a balanced one,¡± he states.

Another doctor named Dr Pardese, who is leading a clinical study in cooperation with the US National Institute of Health said, ¡°The exact mechanisms of cytokine storms are pretty much unknown. The inflammatory response is a natural immune system reaction. It¡¯s necessary to repair cell damage. With normal pneumonia, germs damage the pulmonary tissue and the immune system generates an inflammatory response to stop it. The immune system ¡®kills¡¯ some cells to repair the damaged tissue. What is happening now with coronavirus is that instead of sending a few cells it¡¯s sending tonnes of cells that generate an uncontrolled inflammatory response, not only in lungs but can be widespread in the body.¡±

AFP

The deadly virus has claimed over 109,016 lives from around the world. The recovered number of cases is 405,126 which gives us some hope of beating the virus since the recovery rate is higher than the death rate.